College of Social Work, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA.
National Center for PTSD Women's Health Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 22;18(3):935. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18030935.
Prior research on the relationship between veterans' mental health and psychosocial functioning has primarily relied on male samples. Here, we investigated prospective longitudinal relationships between mental health and psychosocial functioning in 554 female Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans who were surveyed three times between two- and seven-years following separation from service. Mixed effects modeling revealed that increasing depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity predicted declines in work functioning. Increasing PTSD severity predicted declining parental functioning and worsening depression predicted a decline in relationship functioning. In turn, decreased work and intimate relationship functioning predicted increased PTSD and depression symptom severity suggesting bi-directional effects between mental health and psychosocial functioning. An examination of the effect of deployment stressors on psychosocial functioning revealed that deployment sexual harassment was the strongest predictor of decreased psychosocial functioning across all domains. Evidence for the reciprocal nature of relationships between mental health and psychosocial functioning underscore the need for treatment targeted at PTSD and depression, as well as work and relationship functioning to improve outcomes for women veterans.
先前关于退伍军人心理健康和心理社会功能之间关系的研究主要依赖于男性样本。在这里，我们调查了 554 名伊拉克和阿富汗战争女性退伍军人的前瞻性纵向关系，这些退伍军人在服役结束后两到七年期间接受了三次调查。混合效应模型显示，抑郁和创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）严重程度的增加预示着工作功能的下降。PTSD 严重程度的增加预示着父母功能的下降，抑郁的加重预示着人际关系功能的下降。反过来，工作和亲密关系功能的下降预示着 PTSD 和抑郁症状严重程度的增加，这表明心理健康和心理社会功能之间存在双向影响。对部署应激源对心理社会功能影响的考察表明，部署性骚扰是所有领域心理社会功能下降的最强预测因素。心理健康和心理社会功能之间关系的相互性证据强调需要针对 PTSD 和抑郁以及工作和人际关系功能进行治疗，以改善女性退伍军人的预后。
